Time for a Mirror Friendly Q&A
QUESTION: How important is the timing of food? How often should I eat? How much time should I allow between my meal and my workout? Isn’t it bad to eat carbs at dinner time?
ANSWER: From our experience to date, body composition is very much a function of calories in vs calories out, plus the quality of ingredients, rather than the timing of their consumption. This is the general rule and as with every general rule there is an exception. The exception here is the timing of food around your workout.
Naturally one cannot train on a full stomach. I am sure you have experienced this one time or another and the feeling is not pleasant at all. In this respect, my suggestion is that you allow at least an hour and a half between your last pre-workout meal/snack and your workout. The choice of macros before training should vary in line with your current goal i.e. on a lean bulk, consume protein with slow carbs; on a fat loss cycle consume protein.
Furthermore, aim to consume a fast-acting protein coupled with fast carbs right at the end of your workout. I usually continue consuming fast carbs after my workout even until the last few days of my contest preps.
This should come as good news particularly to those whose job or daily routine does not allow the luxury of eating at fixed times. Until a few years ago I was a firm believer in sticking to strict meal times and at times this would becoming somewhat of a stress. This became a thing of the past when l I allowed room for more flexibility and saw that it did not hamper my progress.
Having said so, I wouldn’t suggest skipping breakfast, lunch and dinner, because in doing so you would need to make up for these calories later in the day when it might already be too late.
There is only so much calories you can consume at one go so it is wise to split your calories throughout the day. This also applies to water intake.
If you have more questions regarding the timing of food, drop us a message here.
To fitness with love,
Andrew
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